With 15 different expansions published over the last decade, it’s also among the most thoroughly supported titles in that company’s history. The franchise went on to become Paradox’s first internally developed million-unit seller and ultimately one of the biggest, brightest jewels in the company’s crown. That launch went much more smoothly, and the sequel received praise from critics and fans alike. Over the next eight years the game eventually found its audience, and expectations were high for the release of Crusader Kings 2 in 2012. Employees - including former CEO and co-founder Fredrik Wester - actually packaged those games by hand, only to see the release marred by bugs. The original Crusader Kings was released in 2004, back when Paradox was a much smaller company. The game is still in development, and all images shown here are likely to change. The game also allows you to begin from the year 867, before Christianity has consolidated power in the region. Rather than playing Crusader Kings 3 like a traditional grand strategy game, they tell me, instead I should be playing it more like The Sims.Ī pre-game menu allows you to pick from several interesting characters across medieval Europe. That’s when I learn that I’ve been going about this all wrong. The next day, in a Zoom call with the team from developer Paradox Interactive, I arrive hat in hand to tell them of my misfortune. It’s not game over, but it’s pretty close. But while I’m out of town my neighbor’s allies sweep in from the north, lay siege to my castle, and imprison my heir. I declare my intent to enforce a claim on a neighboring county, raise an army of a few thousand men, and march off into battle. So I decide to start a war, and that’s when things come crashing down around me. My vassals are happy enough, it seems, and my wife - a Polish princess - has my back, securing the border with her father, one of my most powerful neighbors. The clock is ticking, and it’s time to consolidate my power and lay the groundwork for my legacy.

Far from my duchy in Bohemia, the Battle of Hastings has just taken place, setting in motion an inevitable slide toward modernity. I’m only a few hours into a hands-on demo of Crusader Kings 3 when everything starts to go pear-shaped.

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